other people get killed in the subway and we never even look at them. oh, yeah, i've done it myself, boom. >> reporter: the soul searching in hollywood seems more genuine this time. but the question is, will it really have any impact on the kinds of movies that are being made? nischelle turner, cnn, hollywood. >> let's hope the conversation is just beginning. that's it for me. "cnn newsroom" continues now with brooke baldwin. as i speak, andrew cuomo is introducing what is being called one of the toughest gun control laws in the entire country but will it work? i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. when celebrities want to confess, they usually go to oprah. so will lance armstrong, is this the plan? plus, the political future of hugo chavez on the brink. and in one county, police don't have enough ammunition

because of a run on bullets. one distributor says, he has never seen it so bad. good to see you here. i'm brooke baldwin. beating the president to the punch, new york's governor is getting ready to propose sweeping gun control laws. here he is, andrew cuomo, governor of new york, waiting for him, i should say, that wasn't him there, using the state of the state address to push for, supporters say, some of the toughest gun restrictions in the whole country. so here's just some of what we're anticipating the governor to announce. this is according to reporting this morning from the wall street journal. he is expected to require gun owners to relicense every five years to broaden the definition of what falls under the state's current ban and to increase penalties for crimes committed with illegal weapons.

it has been nearly one month since that school massacre in newtown, connecticut. the president's task force in reaction to those killings is also in high gear. the latest development, it will now be talking to walmart. first the nation's largest seller of gun and ammo declined a white house meeting because they said there was some sort of scheduling conflict. but today its vice president of communications said this, let me quote him, quote, we underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on thursday in person. so we are sending in an appropriate representative to participate. no one, though, is underestimating the pressure the white house is feeling to do something about this. remember when he asked and announced the task force here, the president set this deadline for this month, for some tangible proposals. today, task force leader vice president joe biden pointed out that he has not forgotten when

his work is due. >> been doing this a long time. i can't think of all the tragic events we endured, i don't think anything touched the heart of the american people so profoundly as seeing those -- learning of those young children not only being shot, but riddled with bullets. we're not going to get caught up in the notion unless we can do everything we're going to do nothing. it is critically important we act. >> want to turn to someone who studies gun policy for a living. he is daniel webster. joining me now, he's the director of the johns hopkins center for gun policy and research. mr. webster, welcome. again, we're waiting for the governor, waiting for some of the crux of the proposals as he's set to speak in albany. let me ask you, as we anticipate some of the changes, do you think recertifying gun licenses

will actually fly? >> well, if you mean will it fly, will it work, i think it's -- i think it's a reasonable measure to put forward. i think it's important to note that new york actually already has some of the most comprehensive gun control laws on the books. and i think they're benefiting from that. they do have a permit purchase licensing system that is much stronger than in most states that my research suggests that really does decrease the diversion of guns to criminals. >> y >> yeah. >> so i think this is one more layer to improve that. because they recognize that most of the guns used in crime, particularly in new york city, come from elsewhere. and so they want to make sure people are moving into the state, that they -- that they're properly regulated. >> you mention new york is already pretty tough here. new york is one of seven states that bans some assault weapons.

can you tell me, just run through, since this is what you -- this is your work. are there other states that have assault weapons bans and how difficult was it for each of these states to actually pass these laws? >> you know, so, yes, as you mentioned, there are seven states that had some form of an assault weapon ban and my state of maryland, they only extended two assault pistols. the other states that ban assault weapons, new york, new jersey, massachusetts, california, hawaii, i might be missing one. generally these were not that difficult to pass because they are in states that generally have been very accepting of gun control. so maryland has always been one of those states that has been on -- can go either way on a lot of gun control. i guess they sort of went halfway. they went towards the assault

pistols that actually do feature a lot in violent crime, a little less so in some of the mass shootings. >> what about also the -- a lot of people are talking about, you know, if there is more of a ban, an assault weapons ban, let's say if they take that broad measure nationally for example, if you look at this government report, you think of the guns in americans' hands, some 310 million guns, what then happens to those guns? what do you do with them? some cities are doing buybacks, but that can't get rid of all of them. >> it can't. and that clearly does indicate the limitations of banning assault weapons in terms of just their sale following the -- such a ban. so a much more difficult question is do you ban the possession of the weapons or at least something that i think that might possibly be a little more practical, which is ban just the extended large magazine

clips that hold so many rounds of ammunition. that is a thing that really most distinguishes these assault weapons, and the reason why we see them so commonly in these mass shootings. the research does show that the larger the capacity for ammunition on a gun, the more people who are wounded or killed in mass shootings. >> okay. daniel webster, we appreciate it. we're going to continue the dialogue here on guns in the country. we're also going to talk about that listening session is what they're calling in washington with the groups and the vice president, that's coming up a little later. thank you so much. now, baseball fans developing story here out of cooperstown, new york, within the past couple of minutes, we have now learned the baseball writers of america said no to barry bonds. said no to his bid for induction into the baseball hall of fame. not just a no for barry bonds. roger clemens, no. sammy sosa, no. three hall of famers in any

other era, and it just so happens that all three of these men peaked during the steroid era and all three of them allegedly cheated. with me here, former big leaguer, brian jordan. brian jordan, none of them. surprise? >> not at all. for me i felt like if this one player should make the hall of fame, it is jack morris. last year, the 66.7 votes, this year, with the first ballot hall of famers, everybody was so excited, barry bonds, roger clemens, as a baseball purist, you got to scratch your head and say, with those stats that these guys put up, how do you leave them off -- out of the hall of fame this year? they should be first ballot, but because congress got involved, because of the steroid era, the pressure was on major league baseball to do just this. you cannot afford to put one of those guys in the hall of fame and then get the negative side that is going to come with it. >> what about some of the other guys. i'll talk to the control room

here on the fly since they're listening to this now, no players? no one. no one. >> look at barry larkin last year, he didn't get in on first ballot. he got in on the second ballot. clearly him and ozzie smith, the best short stops of all time, and he couldn't make it to first ballot. it is going to -- it is going to take time for the steroid era to kind of calm down, and i believe barry bonds, roger clemens, will make the hall of fame one day. >> do we know how long it has been since there have been zero inductees? i bet quite a while. >> a long time. >> what does this mean as a player? what does it mean to be inducted into the baseball hall of fame? how big a deal is this? >> it is a huge deal. this is what you play for, to put up great numbers, to be the elite of the elite. but when tit is made by writers you need great people on the field. writers, they never forget. and that's been the knock on barry bonds. that's been the knock on curt

schilling. that's been the knock on roger clemens going through the whole situation. but look at their stats, roger clemens, seven-time mvp barry bonds, how do you leave them out of the hall of fame? >> i was reading espn this morning, will matthews said he could have voted. he said none of them can get past the rule five, let me quote the rule here, voting shall be placed on the player and how he played. ty cobbs, the man was a scoundrel but an amazing player, he's in. pete rose, gambled, broke the rules, not in. >> it is a huge conversation we can have about that. for me, major league baseball messed up by not having a drug policy in order, and now you got these guys who use steroids or whatever, ped -- >> sold out the stadiums. >> that's right.

owners made a lot of money. and these guys never failed a test. because there was no drug testing in baseball. so to hold these guys accountable and not be in the hall of fame because of that, to me, it is devastating. >> you played. is this a knock on your sport? >> it is. it is a knock, i don't know if major league baseball will recover from it. >> how about that? brian jordan, thank you so much for swinging by. we appreciate it. go braves. there you go. appreciate it. thank you, sir. now to this, see that this morning? this huge jolt rattled this morning's commute in lower manhattan. this commuter ferry crashed into a dock, injuring at least 57 people, two are in critical condition. the accident happened right around wall street, about 8:45 this morning. and you see there, look closely, center of the screen, you can see the gash in the ship's bow. this is the sea streak ferry, traveling from new jersey to new york city -- this is pier 11, if

you know the area. a passenger says she was asleep when this whole thing happened. >> i was actually sleeping. all of a sudden, we just hit, boom. and people were catapulting forward. it was a big bang, and it was just all of a sudden my face was in the seat in front of me. it happened so fast. >> we do not yet know what caused today's crash. paramedics, they were out there, they treated dozens of people. >> the nature of the injuries are basically the two critical patients are head injuries, one was taken to cornell and the other one to beakman. 20 some odd other patients were long boarded for spinal immobilization and the others were walking wounded taken to various hospitals. >> let me bring in alison kosik there for us at that pier in new york. alison, i heard your team just spoke with the president of the ferry company. what did they tell you? >> reporter: yeah, the president of the company said the captain who was at the controls has been

with sea streak for ten years, that he is actually a senior captain, that he's concerned about these passengers who were injured in this -- in this crash because he knows a lot of them. he's been doing this for many years. you showed that picture before, but if a picture really tells a story, it really is that huge gash in the hull of the sea streak wall street. right now, on board, coast guard investigators are there, crime scene investigators are doing measurements, they're trying to figure out why this vessel crashed into the dock. if you ask the new york city transportation commissioner, this is how she puts it, she said it appears the ferry tried to dock at a first slip, missed it and actually wound up hitting it and then wound up hitting a second dock. and that is the sort of abrupt hit that these passengers are saying that they heard, not the one who was sleeping, but a lot of the passengers who we spoke with, some saying it went from 60 to 0, just a sudden hit. another passenger telling me

that she remembers flying through the air and then waking up on the ground, a woman shaking her, trying to make sure she's okay. another passenger saying, what this vessel usually does is slowly rolls in, and then it goes in reverse and this time around it didn't do it. but we did talk with the president of this company, and he said this captain has been with this -- has been doing this for ten years. and here's more of what he had to say. >> where was the captain when this incident took place? >> he was in command of the vessel. >> he was. so why would this have happened? >> we have a full investigation, which we are cooperating with, fully, right now. >> reporter: and the breathalyzer test has been conducted on this captain. according to the coast guard, initial results show that it came back negative. also, a breathalyzer was done on five crew members. they also came back negative. a drug test on the captain, though, that is pending. brooke? >> alison kosik, thank you so

much. we'll be talking to a passenger on board that vessel a little later this hour live on the show. still ahead, president obama announced his pick to replace tim geithner at the treasury department. how jack lew's influence will impact your wallet. plus, lance armstrong, heading to oprah. but will he confess to doping? my next guest calls it ridiculous. don't miss it. aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any time of year. ♪ nice sweater. thank you. ♪ and save hundreds with our best offer. get an adt security system starting at just $49 installed,

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast! [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. disgraced cyclist lance armstrong is headed to the celebrity version of the confessional booth, oprah winfrey's sofa. twitter went wild when oprah tweeted about the interview which, by the way, will air a week from tomorrow on the oprah

winfrey network, calling it next chapter. it is armstrong's first interview since the doping revelations led him to being stripped of his seven tour de france titles and banned from olympic sports for life. over the years, armstrong has strongly denied using performance enhancing drugs. >> everybody wants to know what i'm on. what am i on? i'm on my bike. >> but since the u.s. anti-doping authority found him guilty, and his sponsors started fleeing, armstrong hasn't said a word. a written statement announcing he is stepping down from his foundation livestrong is all we really had. no admission of guilt, no admission of wrongdoing. oprah says it will be a tell-all. they're billing this as a no holds barred interview. she, of course, known for snagging the big confessional interviews. big, big names with sullied reputations heading to her to tell their side of the story.

>> i'm being this thing they invented in the freaking media. this octobmom, it is gusting. >> it is one of those moments you wish you could go back and have again. >> christine brennan, sports columnist joins me on the phone. christine, you and i have spoken many times about lance armstrong. you have been very vocal against him, calling him all kinds of names. here we have 90 minutes with oprah. what is your first reaction? >> my first reaction was this is stunning. i mean, frankly for all the years of doping and transgressions that he has been involved with,s going to need a miniseries to confess to everything. it only has been three months since all of the evidence came out and since nike dropped him and he had to disassociate himself from livestrong. less than three months. to come clean now, it was so transparent, trying to get back in the good graces of fans or

potentially sponsors or maybe even the u.s. anti-doping agency, though that would not by itself change his banishment for life. >> you write a little bit in your column out today, about some of this -- how this interview came to be or how they were talking with the possibility of a public admission. tell me what you know. >> yes, well, we have found out at usa today sports that lance armstrong and the u.s. anti-doping agency's ceo met for more than an hour in early to mid-december to discuss the possibility of a public admission from lance armstrong, saying he used performance enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his long career. our source tells us that they believe he is giving lance armstrong serious consideration to confessing to the american people. so this story is evolving quickly. and we're certainly staying on top of it. >> what if there is a public admission? what will you make of that? what will the cycling world make of that? >> well, it seems -- it does

seem transparent, as i said, he's trying to get something. here is a man who for years, decades, was so adamant in saying he never did this. and then to turn around so quickly, it certainly i think takes us into a window into his world right now. is it -- is he panicking, certainly missing sports. something he should have thought of years ago. but you wonder about the depth he has sunk to, he feels he's going to try to come clean and that fans, brooke, would buy it. i think -- i don't know if it will do him more harm than good if he were to come out at this point. >> let me ask you on the oprah side of things, we played a clip of marion jones, she did the interview with oprah in 2008, after she got out of federal prison for lying about steroid use. and oprah at the time was really criticized for going too easy on her, not taking the hard enough line on drug use and sport. if you, christine brennan, if you could write a question or two for oprah to ask lance armstrong, what would they be? >> very specific questions,

brooke. what did you do, when did you do it? it would require a probably five-part series or miniseries to get to all the answers. we're talking years and years. >> give me one good one. >> but, yeah, i would ask specifically when did you start? why did you start? and also i think a big one we have all wondered about is did your use of steroids, performance enhancing drugs, did that actually cause his cancer? which is something we have always wondered about. >> what about finally -- let me ask you something here that the head of usada, travis tiger, he talked to 60 minutes and armstrong had been involved in intimidation tactics against him, and other members for years. here is what he told cbs. >> was lance armstrong personally involved in intimidating these other riders to keep them quiet? >> he was. it was tough. all these witnesses were scared of the repercussions of them simply telling the truth. >> what could lance armstrong do

to them? >> incinerate them. >> wow. incinerate them. we also, he said that armstrong offered the agency a donation of $250,000. this was a couple of years before the investigation, christine. what do you make of that? >> well, one of the things, brooke, i think is important to keep in mind, if lance armstrong were to come clean and confess to everything, that would open up as travis was talking about all of these people in his -- who he's left in his wake, who he destroyed, their businesses, their livelihood, their reputation, the lawsuits, the legal implications if lance armstrong does admit to everything would be enormous. that's why i think a lot of experts are saying he's not going to admit to it because there is way too much legal damage that it could cause him. but it is true. lance armstrong, the story of lance armstrong, ugly, messy, terrible story of how he treated people for more than a decade.

>> 90-minute interview a week from tomorrow. christine brennan, usa today sports columnist, thank you. >> thank you, brooke. one city declaring a state of emergency over the flu. up next, details on the drastic measures being taken to contain the deadly virus. plus, new revealing cell phone photos of the aurora, colorado, shooting suspect here, how these pictures of the theater itself and the suspect could prove the deadly massacre was planned days in advance. we're on the case.

some of the hottest stories in a flash, rapid fire, roll it.

get a flu shot. four simple words, i know i did about a month ago. a message here from health experts at the cdc. at least 43 states are now reporting widespread flu cases. hospitals across the country struggling to keep up with the patient load. in allentown, pennsylvania, a hospital was forced to open up tents outside, just to treat the overflow. >> we are loaded with a lot of patients that are testing positive for the flu. >> in boston, mayor thomas manino declared a public health emergency with 700 confirmed cases of the flu there since october. in australia, fires continue to tear across the country's southeast. look. look at this. this is the state of new south wales. more than 100 fires there burning on the outskirts of sydney and the capital of australia. the change in wind direction has brought temperatures down just slightly, they say. but temperatures continue to

soar above the 100 degree mark. this is the worst heat wave on record for them there. and washington redskins quarterback robert griffin iii had surgery just this morning to repair the two ligaments in his right knee. the redskins rookie sensation was hurt in the 12th game of the season, and did additional damage sunday in a playoff loss to seattle. experts say he faces a lengthy rehab as he tries to return for next season. hillary clinton speaking publicly for the very first time since her dramatic health scare. the secretary of state back at work this week after a concussion and a blood clot. today, during a photo-op with america's ambassador to ireland, dan rooney, she talked about leaving her job and she talked about her replacement, senator john kerry. here she was. >> it is obviously somewhat bittersweet because i've had the most extraordinary experience and i worked with just an

amazing team of people. but i'm very much looking forward to doing everything we can these last few weeks to resolve and finish up wherever possible and to then have a very smooth, seamless transition to senator kerry to continue the work. >> by the way, doctors say clinton will be okay. question, did espn react too harshly here to announcer brent musburger's comments over a.j. mccarron's girlfriend, catherine webb sure thinks so. espn issued a statement apologizing for his comments to the reigning miss alabama usa saying the comments went too far. but she spoke to matt lauer on the "today" show and she feels the sports network has been unfair to musburger, listen. >> i think the media has been really unfair to him. i think that if he would have said something of along the line

that we were hot or sexy or made any derogatory statements like that, i think that would have been a little bit different, but the fact that he said that we were beautiful and gorgeous, i don't see why any woman wouldn't be flattered by that. >> that's not all. webb has become an overnight sensation online going from a modest twitter following to more than 228,000 followers as of this afternoon. so what does she think about all that attention? >> you know, i'm honestly really shocked that it really took off like that. and, you know, i think that we need to draw back our attention to who the real winners are and that's, you know, the alabama football team. they spent so long getting ready for this season and they won their second back-to-back national championship, and that's such an accomplishment. >> another domino today in the president's cabinet shuffle. this time, this is a position that impacts your wallet, especially with the new fiscal deadlines coming up. so, who is jack lew and what would he do at the treasury

department? that's next. but first, quick check here of the big board, the dow is down. let me take a look. it is up 57 points. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ [ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ has oats that can help lower cholesterol? and it tastes good? sure does! wow.

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photographs from the cell phone of alleged movie theater gunman james holmes were shown in this courtroom in colorado today. and some of them were surveillance photos of the theater, the theater here itself dated weeks before the shooting in aurora. others were self-portraits, showing him dressed in paramilitary gear. these are dated the night before the shooting that killed 12 people and wounded 58 more. the hearing is to decide if holmes will go on to trial it just ended here. casey wian spent the last three days in court for us, watching all this evidence, seeing some of the family members, some of the victims' family members. casey, first, just tell me about the photos, sort of eerie. >> reporter: yeah, brooke, they really were strong evidence that what the prosecution has been trying to show all along, that this was a carefully planned attack, there were 12 photos displayed in court today. all from james holmes' iphone.

the first photos were from june 29th, several weeks before the shooting. they were of the interior of that movie theater. one of them zeroed in on the hinge of the door and, of course, prosecutors have alleged he propped the door open to get his -- go out and get his weapons after the movie started. the other two photos of the movie theater were from outside, at around midnight, a couple of weeks before the shooting, midnight, of course, is about the time when the shooting occurred. clearly the most disturbing photos were the eight photos that were shown that were taken inside holmes apartment, presumably by holmes himself. they showed self-portraits with his bright orange hair and very chillingly in four of the shots, he had black contact lenses in his eyes. it made him look just very disturbed and very menacing. also, there were photos of explosives, explosives that prosecutors allege he used to

booby trap his apartment. there were photos of him dressed in the paramilitary ballistic tactical clothing he had on. photos of him smiling, grinning very sinisterly at the camera. also a photo of him making sort of a funny bizarre face with his tongue sticking out. the last photo they showed was taken just hours before the shooting, it was of his bed, with all of his weapons, an assault rifle, a shotgun, two handguns, his ballistic tactical gear, his helmet, gas mask, all of that, in his apartment, just hours before the shooting, brooke. >> as you run through all of these details, i just can't help but think about the survivors who were there, the victims' family members. have you had a chance to talk to them about all of this they have all been hearing? >> reporter: well, my colleague, jim spelman, spoke with the father of one of the shooting victims after today's hearing. and what they talked about.

jim had a much better vantage point of james holmes in the court today than i did. and he saw holmes smirking during one of the photos of the self-portraits that were shown in court. most of the time throughout these three-day hearings, he's shown no reaction, been very emotionle emotionless. when jim spelman talked to that father, he said it was very disturbing seeing him smirk when these photos were being displayed in court. also, want to point out, brooke, that the defense decided not to call any witnesses in this hearing, despite the fact that they had argued before the hearing began for the right to call a couple of witnesses who could speak to james holmes' state of mind, they decided not to do that, the judge wrapped things up, said he's going to rule on whether he stands trial on friday, brooke. >> casey wian for us in centennial, colorado, we appreciate it. now should hugo chavez still be considered the president of

venezuela? that's the question so many people today are asking after reports that chavez will miss his own inauguration. we'll take you live to caracas next. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief. cue up alka-seltzer. it stops heartburn fast. ♪ oh what a relief it is!

they have got a hot mess down in venezuela as to who is in charge of the government.

socialist hugo chavez stricken with cancer still is being treated in cuba. but the thing is, he's supposed to be taking an oath of office his second term for president tomorrow. opposition leaders have said chavez should be replaced. at least temporarily. but just a short time ago, venezuela's supreme court stepped in. paula newton is with me now from caracas. what did the court say? >> reporter: the court said, essentially, we agree with the government and we agree with chavez supporters. and that means chavez's handpicked successor, the vice president, can stand in for him seemingly if he wants to for the entire six-year term. this position that the constitutional court has taken on this, that the supreme court has taken on this unprecedented really anywhere. they don't have a handle on what he has. they don't have a handle on if he can recover. and they have not even pronounced a date to say this is when he has to be sworn in by, this is when we have to know what his medical condition is. so basically many people here and when i say many, i mean

people who used to run the judiciary here before hugo chavez drafted this constitution and put it in place in 1999, are saying that this is a politicized decision and they're saying it is dangerous. saying at this point in time is what should happen is the president should be in charge of the country, and elections sh s should be called. i will say right now there say lot of anxiety. not many people on the street know what this will mean. they are saying so far it doesn't look like it will lead to conflict in the streets. but it is confusing for anyone living here. >> as there is anxiety in venezuela, we have chavez in cuba. have we -- have you heard anything from him? has he spoken, reacted to the high court's decision in his favor? >> reporter: more than a month and no one has heard or seen hugo chavez. i think that's what really rattled everyone yesterday. when they said hugo chavez would not be at his swearing in, if he had a crawl to it, he would

have. he would have come in a wheelchair, he would have come attached to an iv. if he couldn't be here, it means he's gravely ill. i think that's the other thing that has many people rattled here. he's been a larger than life leader in this country. love him or hate him, he has been the leader and it has been very unsettling for many people. this economy is limping along right now. and there is no sign that they're going to be on better financial footing in the weeks and months to come with this kind of a political situation. >> paula newton for us in caracas, paula, thank you. president obama announce his pick to replace tim geithner at the treasury department. how jack lew's influence will impact your wallet. ali velshi has some thoughts. we'll chat next. [ male announcer ] this is bob,

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another move coming soon and president obama's cabinet shuffle. a source tells cnn that the president plans to replace outgoing treasury secretary timothy geithner with jack lew. the nomination is expected to be announced this week. cnn's ali velshi is here, all over this. good to see you, sir. is jack lew a good pick to replace geithner, who, by the way, is leaving at the end of the month? >> it depends how you look at this. from the president's

perspective, seems like he's surrounding himself with people in his second term who are familiar to him, who have been close to him, who he can be comfortable with. jack lew fits that bill. he's also fairly familiar with the budgeting process. he was the director of the office of management and budget twice. you'll remember peter orzag held that position. when he left, jack lew was put into the position until he was the chief of staff. it seems for the next six months or so between the debt ceiling debate, the sequestration debate and the new budget that hopefully we bring in, that is going to preoccupy washington. he doesn't really have a lot of experience on the regulation side of things, which may cause some people on wall street to be concerned. but we're not really in a political environment, brooke, where the -- neither the white house nor most people are concerned with whether or not wall street likes the pick. but he is -- he's a guy who had experience. he was involved in the 1997 balanced budget deal. he's been involved in social security legislation. all the topics that are hot right now, jack lew does have

experience with. >> you mentioned sequestration, of course. we have a couple of fiscal cliffs over the next two months. do we have any idea what kind of negotiator he'll be and he'll drive a tough bargain with the speaker of the house, john boehner. >> as the chief of staff of the white house, that's a key issue. you got to be able to be tough, you got to be able to negotiate. if you were grading the white house and its negotiating abilities in the last few months, you may not give them a very high grade. what you get in jack lew is a guy who is highly, specifically familiar with the budgeting process. i wouldn't normally say this, that that's the most important thing a treasury secretary needs to do, regulation is another big area. but right now we're in a budget problem. i don't know whether jack lew is the right pick for the next four years. but certainly if you're picking a treasury secretary for the next six or eight months, this is a guy who knows the details, the complexity of budgeting. i will remind you, brooke, we haven't had a budget in this country since april of 2009. the basic thing government is supposed to do is have a budget. we don't have that. we have continuing resolutions.

we'll extend last year's budget, keep everything the same way, which is why we can't get a handle on a lot of our issues. so there is a real -- this may be a signal from obama to congress that i'm serious about this. we're serious about putting our best minds forward on getting a budget and getting our deficit under control. i don't know if that's exactly what the signal is, but for the moment, jack lew looks like the most likely pick and at this point we now know he's going to be appointed by president obama. >> not since 2009, huh? ali velshi, thanks for the reminder. appreciate it. see you in a bit. a high profile gun and heavy whap weapons enthusiast has been found dead. it is being investigated as a homicide. much more on that developing story next. yeah, we found that wonderful thing. and you smiled. and threw it. and i decided i would never, ever leave it anywhere. because that wonderful, bouncy, roll-around thing...

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want to show you some clips from one of the top ten channels on youtube. one of the people behind this channel was just found dead with a bullet to the back of his head. take a look with me. this is the youtube channel. it is called fpsrussia. listen to this, though. 3.4 million subscribers. this is celebration of weapons, big, big ones. take a look and take a listen. >> all right. i'm going to make this video showing the mmp 22 from smith & wesson. with the -- >> this is fpsrussia. this is keith ratliff, described as the site's gun guy. keith ratliff found dead last thursday at a home in carnesville, georgia. his death ruled a homicide. with me now, mike morris of the atlanta journal constitution here. so, welcome. >> hi, brooke. >> read your piece in the "ajc."

last seen alive wednesday night. >> about 23 hours earlier. >> tell me about the murder scene, what do you know? >> it was in his gun manufacturing business that he had up in franklin county, about 80 miles northeast of atlanta. and there were numerous weapons found in close proximity to his body and his family is wondering why didn't he use one of those to defend himself. >> one gunshot wound. >> one gunshot wound to his head. and after the autopsy by the gbi, they determined it was a homicide and not a suicide. >> do investigators believe his work possibly with this youtube channel, this fpsrussia, is connected to his death? >> they will not say. i tried to pin them down today on a motive or if they had any suspects and they're just not saying. >> they're not saying the last person he talked to -- >> they won't tell me the last person he talked to, who found him dead, won't say. >> this guy was obviously as we see the videos and i clicked on

some, you've been watching some, very well trained in the use of firearms. what does that suggest about -- would it suggest anything about the assailant here? >> right now, i don't think anybody knows. >> had you ever heard of this guy before this? >> i hadn't before this but a lot of people have because the youtube channel -- one of the youtube channels they run has had over half a billion views on the videos they put up. >> and, again, biggest takeaway from georgia bureau of investigation is -- >> is that they do not have -- they won't say whether they have any suspects, any persons of interest, they won't say if they're ruling anyone out. >> huh. okay. mike morris, ajc, we'll be reading to see if they talk more and what they're saying as this was a huge, huge gun guy, killed with one gunshot wound to the head. appreciate it, thank you. just in here to cnn, we have got word of a crane collapse. look at this with me. crane collapse in new york. this is a quick look. we're going to talk with someone who heard the whole thing. next. anyone have occasional constipation,

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just about the top of the hour here, i'm brooke baldwin, thanks for being with me. beating the president to the punch. new york's governor is getting ready to propose sweeping gun control laws here. governor andrew cuomo using the state of the state address here to push live pictures here by the way of the governor speaking at this hour, to push for some supporters anticipating some of the toughest gun restrictions in

the country. so we're watching for those details here. we obviously have been reading, there are a lot of points here anticipated as to what he may call for. this is some of what we have learned from the wall street journal, that he will want to require gun owners to relicense every five years. he'll want to broaden the definition of what weapons fall under the state's present ban. and increase penalties for crimes committed with illegal weapons, just some of what we're watching for. as for the governor of the state that just endured a massacre at one of its elementary schools, governor of connecticut here, saying he is against more guns on school campuses. >> and when it comes to preventing future acts of violence in our schools, let me say this, more guns are not the answer. let me be clear, freedom is not a handgun on the hip of every teacher and security should not mean a guard posted outside every classroom.

[ applause ] that is not who we are in connecticut. and it is not who we will allow ourselves to become. >> it has been just about a month since the school shootings in newtown, connecticut, and the president's task force in reaction to those killings is in high gear. the latest development we have today will now be talking to walmart at the first -- the nation's largest seller of guns and ammo declined a white house meeting because of some sort of scheduling conflict, but today, walmart's vice president of communications said this, quote, we underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate representative to participate, end quote. no one, though, is under estimating the pressure of the white house feeling to do something. remember when he announced the task force? president set a deadline for this month for some concrete

proposals and today task force leader vice president joe biden pointed out that he has not forgotten when his work is due. >> been doing this a long time. i can't think of all the tragic events we endured, i don't think anything has touched the heart of the american people so profoundly as seeing those -- learning of the young children not only being shot, but riddled with bullets. we are not going to get caught up in the notion, unless we can do everything, we're going to do nothing. it is critically important we act. >> as a cry for gun control gets louder, the lines for gun purchases get longer. take this weekend's gun show in orlando. a record 8,000 people showed up on day one. and the run on guns and run on ammunition is beginning to impact police agencies who fear they may run out of ammunition for training.

here is erin diamante. >> reporter: the mostly empty shells inside the police armory say it all. >> when you can't get ammunition it very concerning. >> reporter: chief terry salts department, one of many law enforcement agencies in georgia, we found with bullets on back order, tens of thousands of rounds each. >> it affects our ability to be prepared. it affects the potential safety of the officers because they're not as proficient as they should be. >> reporter: a nationwide ammunition shortage has already forced the douglas county sheriff's office to push back a couple of training exercises while scrambling to restock. >> that could be six months, that could be eight months. >> reporter: it is not just the practice ammo. >> been looking at what to do. we don't know when our next shipment of duty ammo is coming in. >> reporter: local police and distributors like jay wallace say it is in part fallout from a huge spike in gun and ammo sales to civilians after the horrific school shooting in connecticut. can you remember a time when there was this much demand for

ammunition? >> i cannot. i cannot. this was probably -- in my lifetime, in my business lifetime, there has been more demand for ammunition than there has ever been. >> reporter: wallace now worries some departments could have to wait for a year for factories to ship certain kinds of rounds in bulk. >> we have law enforcement agencies coming in buying ammunition off the she because th -- shelf because they need it. >> we'll get very concerned at the six-month level if that's all we have in stock. because then we have to start planning and rationing. >> wsb also reports that one georgia vendor had to increase the turn around time for its ammunition, usually apparently it is a 60-day wait. now bulk orders are taking six months or more to receive. want to talk now to someone who just stepped outside of the meeting at the white house, who just met with vice president biden and his task force today. lonnie philips, the stepfather of jessica galloway, one of the 12 killed at the mass shooting in aurora, colorado, last

summer. and, mr. phillips, welcome back here. i know we chatted a couple of days ago as you were anticipating your travels to washington. how did the meeting go? >> the meeting was very, very productive. very -- a lot of groups there. some people from arizona, some groups from new hampshire was represented, newtowners represented, and a lot of agencies that work with victims. it was probably a total of i want to say 25 people plus the president's advisers were there. and it was a very good meeting with the president. realizes that we only have a short window to do something.

the vice president biden said that the president wanted something in the next couple of week weeks. something that they could work with. so looking at mainly assault weapons ban, and also limiting the number of rounds that you can clip or -- and also they want to look at mental health issues. they already started work on that. they made a lot of progress. >> okay, so i'm just -- >> background checks, background checks was a very important issue that they wanted to do. >> okay, so, you said about 25 people, assault weapon ban, limiting ammunition, mental health, background checks, listen, that's a lot to tackle in a meeting. we know tomorrow is the big day

with the nra and a couple of other gun groups, maybe just for show, maybe some substantive compromise will happen. at the end of the day, here you are, sitting in this high power meeting in the white house, you lost your stepdaughter, your daughter here. do you think the president should have been in there? >> no. no. he's got the right man in charge. he's very in tune with what he's doing and he was very pleased with the information he got today. he got a lot of very good -- took a lot of notes and he -- he commended the group and told them he was very -- the amount of information he got, and how astute they were on that, what issues they were tackling. he's very optimistic about getting something done. >> are you optimistic? >> absolutely. i see more momentum going now

after newtown than i have seen since columbine. and after the killing and the massacre in aurora, it was on the public consciousness for a couple of weeks and then, of course, the olympics came along and it was soon forgotten and the same with gabby giffords, same thing happened. this time it's different. >> this time is different. you feel the momentum. we know the deadline for the task force, end of the month. you mentioned the vice president, the president both know short window. you mentioned it a lot. we'll see what happens. lonnie phillips, thank you for hopping on the phone with me. just in to us at cnn, this crane, look at these pictures. a crane has collapsed in new york. we have our producer christina gannon is watching the scene right now. give me a point of reference. where are we talking about? >> brooke, i'm in long island city, literally right across the east river from manhattan. if i look across the river, i'm looking at the united nations, i

can see the empire state building, the chrysler building, we're across the river from that. there is a purely residential, there is probably 10 high rye residential buildings. this building is under construction. it is just right across the street from manhattan, across the river from manhattan. >> we're looking at some pictures from our affiliate wabc, looks to be some -- i see some stripes, maybe firefighters, emergency crews there on the scene. do we know, this is sort of a later lunch hour, i don't know how many people were out and about in the area, what did you -- did you see the moment when it crashed? >> i live nearby. and i heard the crash. and it was -- it lasted probably three or four, five seconds. there has been some construction, so at first i thought it was just construction but it kept going and kept going and so i ran to my window, and saw the crane crumpled on top of the construction site. i saw probably 30, 40 construction workers running

away from the scene. and then grabbed my camera and came back and in that couple of seconds, they were running back to the scene because there were people trapped and so you could, you know, they were rushing to help their co-workers. what i see on the street now, there is probably 30 or 40 emergency units. i've seen at least three people get into ambulances, stretchers. i saw a stretcher at one point right by where the crane hit. and so it looked like they might be pulling somebody out from underneath it. i don't know for sure. i checked around down there and they are not ready to give out any official information yet. >> it sounds like a rescue situation is under way here, long island city, across the river from as she pointed out, the united nations, lower manhattan. we're going to keep a close eye here on what is happening and how many folks could be injured there in long island city

because of that crane collapse. now this. you just heard andrew cuomo talking about guns. what about the next big hurricane? one new yorker says he's not at all happy about cuomo's new plan. i'm brooke baldwin. the news is now. when celebrities want to confess, they usually go to oprah. so for lance armstrong, is this the plan? plus, a warning to beachgoers, stay out of the water. this after a great white is spotted. and in one county, police don't have enough ammunition because of a run on ball lbulle. one distributor says he has never seen it so bad. [ ryon ] eating shrimp at red lobster is a fantastic experience. 30 shrimp for $11.99. i can't imagine anything better. you're getting a ton of shrimp, and it tastes really good!

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look here, these are pictures again, this is a crane collapse, this has just happened in the last little bit. this is long island city, new york. we were talking to one of our producers at cnn, christina gannon, sending us pictures. this crane collapsed on this residential building in long island city. point of reference, she said, across the river you have the united nations, lower manhattan. according to christina, there have been, she said something like 30, 35 emergency crews vehicles on scene. she saw people being taken out on stretchers, hopping on ambulances. so presumably a rescue situation. we're obviously making phone calls. as soon as we have any information on this collapse, and on any injuries, we will bring that to you live.

meantime, new developments in this morning's ferry crash. lower manhattan. injuring 57 people there. coast guard records indicate the same seastreak ferry has been involved in two prior crashes. you had 2009, the ferry slammed into a dock in new jersey. in 2010, the ferry collided with a dock puncturing a hole in the ship. you're looking at the aftermath from this morning here. today's accident left two people in critical condition. it happened right around 8:45 this morning, near wall street. this is pier 11, if you know the area. and take a look at bow of this vessel. huge gash there evident by the pictures. the ferry was traveling from new jersey to new york city's pier 11. a passenger says she was asleep this morning when the crash happened. >> i was actually sleeping. i -- all of a sudden, we just hit, boom. and people were catapulting

forward. it was a big bang and it was just all of a sudden my face was in the seat in front of me. it happened so fast. >> we still don't know yet what caused that ferry to slam into the dock. paramedics treated, they say, dozens of people this morning. >> the nature of the injuries are basically the two critical patients are head injuries, one was taken to cornell and the other one to beakman. 20 some odd other patients were long boarded for spinal immobilization and the others were walking wounded taken to various hospitals. >> one passenger on board this morning's ferry joins me now on the phone from new york. chris, i just have to ask about you, i read you told one of our producers the crash cleaned your clock a little bit. you okay? >> yeah, i'm fine now. it definitely was one way to start the day, that's for sure. >> what did it feel like? what was the impact like? >> i haven't been in a lot of car crashes, but that's about the closest thing i can think of.

because, again, you're sitting there, minding your own thing, getting ready for the day. and then that sudden impact and that lurch forward and with no restraining devices or anything like that, you're just, you know, who knows where you're going to end up. >> where were you? were you seated? >> i was seated in the back of the boat on the second floor. there were a lost people standing because we were getting close to the end of the first leg of the trip. and, you know, so -- it is usually one of the few times when i'm still trying to get my own act together, i'm not standing up waiting to try to get off the boat as fast as possible. >> i heard the ferry this morning was unusually full. when did you realize that something was wrong, chris? >> well, you're right, the boat -- the ferry was certainly full. that's not anything that's ever that unusual. there had been a moment or two, a couple of minutes prior where it felt like the boat was going a little closer to shore than it

usually does. but you know, that doesn't seem -- at the time that didn't seem like anything. then five minutes later when we're coming into the city is, you know, even then, we didn't know because when you're getting ready for your own day, you don't necessarily recognize exactly how fast you're going from where you are. you don't -- it is not like you're in a car and you can look around and you realize you're almost there to start falling down. you assume that because it never happened before you're going to cruise on in and you're done. so really, like, there wasn't any type of, you know, alert that we were going to be in trouble or anything like that until after the fact. >> goodness. chris avore, i'm glad you're okay. thank you for picking up the phone. we appreciate it. >> thank you. oprah, oprah gets the exclusive. disgraced cyclist lance armstrong now is willing to sit down with the queen of talk one week from tomorrow. this will be armstrong's first

interview and we're hearing only interview since the doping revelations that stripped him of the seven tour de france titles and banned him from olympic sports for life. over the years, armstrong has strongly denied using any kind of performance enhancing drugs. >> everybody wants to know what i'm on. what am i on? i'm on my bike. >> but since the u.s. anti-doping authority found him guilty and his sponsors started fleeing, armstrong hasn't said a word. no admission of guilt, no admission of wrongdoing. earlier i spoke with christine brennan, columnist with "usa today" sports and she's been vocal about lance armstrong and she said a source told them that lance armstrong is giving quote/unquote, serious consideration to a confession. oprah billing this as a quote/unquote, no holds barred intervi interview. joined by lauren ashburn from the daily down low from washington and contributor to the daily beast. good to see you.

picking oprah, this is all about strategy and managing an image, who does he give the tell-all to, to oprah. what do you make of that choice? >> well, oprah has not had a syndicated show for several years and her struggling network owned in part by discovery does not get the viewership that her syndicated show did. so oprah's not quite what she was and lance definitely isn't what he was. so there is a question as to how much this interview can do for him and for his image, if he confesses. >> when you talk about the magic touch, right, she -- oprah has that -- or had that power to make or break so many people who came before her. i mean, if he confesses, if she sort of forgives, do you think that that won't really matter? >> the problem here is, do you know what time oprah is on this channel? i don't. i did know on her syndicated show she was on my channel 7 at 4:00 every single day and it was

appointment viewing and you would sit down and you would watch the hour with this person. and what we're going to see from this interview all over the news are clips of her talking to him, and you will get that one big sound bite, but you don't get to sit there with her or most people won't, a lot of people who do watch own, her network, will, but the mass society won't sit there with her as she talks to him and that could be a big difference in how lance is perceived. >> you mentioned that you and perhaps others don't know when the show would air and this network of hers, you know, everyone knew when she would be on during her hour show. and so apparently she's adding the six scripted series to help this fledgling network. aren't these interviews, these big, you know, sort of tell alls with a lance armstrong, isn't that her strength? do you think she should go more that direction? >> of course i do. of course. i miss oprah. i miss seeing all of those

confessionals. all the politicians here in washington who do something wrong need a place to go. where do they go now? what couch do they sit on? of course i think this is the direction she should go in. oprah sat on her own couch and confessed her struggles with weight loss and that has helped many women. and her voice is a needed voice in society on issues like that. >> lauren ashburn, oprah fan right here as well. thank you very much. we appreciate it. want to get back to our breaking news here out of new york, long island city. this crane, look at the picture. mangled, mangled metal mess, collapsed. we're now getting word of injuries. we'll have that for you, more pictures of the scene, on the other side of the break.

as promised, an update for you here as we're getting new pictures of the crane collapse in long island city. we have heard now according to the new york police department there are five minor injuries, all are nonlife threatening. this happened just a little while ago, long island city, this was a residential building. you see that iconic pepsi cola sign across the river. just glancing here, my e-mail, this is information coming in to me from christina ginn, one of our producers there who took some of the photos, a 30-story tall crane. they just moved the crane, she says, in the past week. they were working on a tf cornerstone building, apparently they own the buildings in the area. if the crane would have fallen the other way, it would have hit the 20-story residential building beside it. that's the latest we have from long island city. we'll keep you updated. i want to move along to what happened today in venezuela. within just the past couple of hours, the supreme court of venezuela has tried to make

sense of the country's leadership crisis. you have socialist hugo chavez, stricken with cancer, still in cuba, being treated, even though his inauguration for second term in office is set for tomorrow. venezuela's opposition has said chavez should be replaced, he should be replaced temporarily. but shortly after noon today, the country's highest court declared the new chavez term will begin even if he is not sworn in. jim clancy, our veteran journalist who covers these things all around the world, let me ask you this, you have the opposition, very, very vocal. this has been a crisis in leadership. does the crisis deepen or does the opposition go along with the supreme court's decision today? >> they don't have much choice really. it is a huge fight inside the parliament, and they were saying you're violating the constitutions, the opposition, and the supporters of chavez started shouting his name, shouted them down. had a woman who serves on the supreme court saying it's fine, we can go ahead with this.

they'll have a huge chavez rally attended by the presidents of uruguay and bolivia and everybody. they have a chavez rally instead of the inauguration tomorrow. >> i was asking paula newton, asking her in caracas reporting on this last hour, has anybody heard from hugo chavez in cuba. she said, no, not a peep out of him for an entire month which tells her he's very sick, four cancer surgeries. is it time to think of a post hugo chavez venezuela. >> they're already thinking about it. this was a movement made around one man. and he made all the decisions. all the decisions were made behind closed doors. will that change? that could change for the better. but at the same time, they're worried there could be a power struggle between nicholas madoro and the head of the senate, cabelo. >> madoro is the number two? >> he would be the guy to succeed me, the bus driver

turned union activist and now rose up in the ranks of the government. he's a populist. a lot of people like him. but if there is a fracture within the chavistas, if they split, that gives an opportunity in any election. they're talking about we should have a special election. they don't want to do that. they want to have time to fix things a little bit, stabilize the economy. they have to do something -- no longer can they rely on what you call stunt politics. chavez, building government built home for his 3 millionth twitter follower, to the cheers of people, and -- >> are you serious? >> yes. so, you know, that is the way that he was able to rule and he ignored a lot of the deep fiscal problems that the country has. >> as you're saying, people have already been thinking about a post chavez venezuela. how would a post chavez venezuela impact u.s. relations? >> it is not clear. not entirely clear. it could improve. everybody makes such a -- yes,

he was a thorn in the side of the united states at every opportunity. this man embraced moammar gadhafi and his fading days. but he was also a very reliable seller of oil to the united states. when it came down to it, he did not follow fidel castro's mold, but he led a resurgence of the left across latin america and a left is going to miss him. >> jim clancy, thank you. now this, an emotional governor andrew cuomo in new york, reflecting on superstorm sandy, moments ago, during a state of the state address. my next guest says cuomo's new preparation plan for another big storm, no good. plus, more on our breaking news, we're on it, long island city, crane collapse. endorsed by weight watchersod and your taste buds have always endorsed us. so, you know what this means... this is a real win win! yoplait, it is so good.

breaking news. we were reporting on the possibility of a lawsuit, aig to be part of this lawsuit, basically suing the hand that helped bail them out a couple of years ago that you and i and the american taxpayer, some $182 billion. they were -- they're in the midst of a reimaging. you've seen the ads, right? because of what happened from a

couple of years ago. but now we have learned they will not be taking part of this lawsuit, hank greenberg was leading that charge, a former head of aig. a no go for them. ali velshi will be all over it in a matter of minutes. i want to talk about new york. new york's governor, andrew cuomo, getting emotional today when he talked about hurricane sandy and his annual state of the state speech. >> despite all of these efforts, despite all of the efforts of the first responders, the police, the fire, the national guard, the heroism of citizens, we still lost lives during hurricane sandy. we lost 60 of our brothers and sisters who were new yorkers at the damage of the storm. >> cuomo has met with experts, discussed specific steps to make new york safer, before another storm like that hits.

my next guest says new york has ignore the warnings for years about a superstorm hitting the city and state already has a pile of recommendations ready to roll to help improve the city's disaster plans. really he says it is a question of who pays for it. joining me now is former new york state assemblyman richard broadsky. the government's study says that the state should consider storm barriers with moveable gates. price tag of that, in the billions of dollars ballpark. you say the governor's plan not detailed enough. what's missing? >> well, the problem here is that we already have a new yorker, a very particular state law requiring to have a hurricane plan that has three elements. response, which happened pretty well, the governor pointed it out to his credit, but it also is supposed to have a prevention plan and a recovery plan. and they simply ignored those parts of the law. that wasn't an academic or technical breakdown.

the law is specific. says storm surge, flooding, have a plan and ways and policies and make recommendations on how to prevent the damage. now, downtown, on the hudson river, there is a big building owned by goldman sachs. they put sandbags around that building to the tune of 16 feet. the lights stayed on, no damage. one block away is the mta's brooklyn battery tunnel between manhattan and brooklyn. no sandbags, the visuals of that are appalling, hundreds of millions of dollars of damage, and weeks of delay and inconvenience to commuters. if we're going to fix this, we got to go back and figure out why we weren't prepared so that when the next storm hits, we get prepared. >> what about then beyond the lack of what these items that could help a lot of folks up and down the new jersey, new york areas, what about money? i mean, this is not cheap here with these disaster preparations, who pays? how do you get that money?

>> it is a great question. and when you spend public money, it is always easier to spend the money on saving people than it is on the dull business of preventing people on a calm august day years before. the state has a responsibility. the city has a responsibility. the federal government has a responsibility. and frankly, i've been a little surprised by some of the reactions in the house of representatives which they don't seem to want to invest in prevention. they call it pork, which it isn't. and they have dismissed that as a valid exercise of federal participation. if we don't learn the lesson of sandy, we're going to be facing expenses. put aside the human tragedy, as the governor pointed out, we're going to be facing rebuilding costs triple, quadruple the cost of prevention. it is good economics. it is good politics. it is time we got off our collective rear ends and did what's right about preventing storm damage. >> straight talking, richard brodsky, thank you. thank you, sir.

now this, we're tracking an incredible emotional story out of riverside, california. back in may of 2011, white supremacist leader jeff hall was shot and killed inside his own home. now on trial is jeff hall's son, who was 10 years of age at the time of his killing. the defense rested yesterday. criminal defense attorney holly hughes joins us. there was question as to whether or not this boy would testify and the lawyer now we have learned did not, lawyer pulled the whole not guilty by reason of insanity plea. so what do you make of all that? >> right. they withdrew that and i think probably this young man, and he was 10, this is a child, this is a little boy. >> i remember when it happened. >> he repeatedly confessed, yes, i shot my father in the head, while he was asleep. so that confession has already come in through the state's witnesses, the detective who took that put that in end. the defense did not want to expose this young man, 12 now,

to cross examination by the state, because let's face it, it is a matter of what degree are we talking about. >> what are we talking about? >> at this point, because he's being tried in juvenile court, only the judge deciding that. and the maximum he's going to get, brooke, is up until the time that he is 23 years old, and the argument will become will he be put in a lockdown facility and treated like an adult prisoner with other people his age, right, a juvenile facility. the defense is arguing to the judge, this young man is salvageable, even the state's own psychologist said this young man could be saved. so, you know, they're going to say the defense wants him put in a less restrictive environment, maybe a group home, where he will get a lot more therapy. and not necessarily be exposed to more dangerous children who are in the juvenile facility lockdown. >> what about what the psych expert said, the boy's actions had nothing to do with the father being a neo-nazi. >> which leads me to believe, you know what it leads me to believe, this is why i think

they probably withdrew the not guilty by reason of insanity, because this is a juvenile case, there is a lot we're not hearing, a lot protected, okay, i think that is sort of a telegraphic message saying it wasn't because the father was a neo-nazi, but it was something else the father did because the psychologist said this young man had a traumatic upbringing, a rough upbringing. if this child was being abused, in some other manner, nothing to do with him being a white supremacist, maybe just a rough, violent father. that's why they withdrew the insanity plea. if the judge found this young boy insane, his sentence could be indefinite. he will be locked up until he becomes no longer a danger to himself or society. look at john hinckley, how long has he been locked up? that's why the judge said -- the defense said we'll withdraw the insanity plea because the judges heard all the other stuff and may go easier on sentencing him. >> let me talk about the other case. this is texas. judge in texas says this high school can force high school

students to wear a locater chip while on school property, tracking our kids like this, no matter how parents feel about it, privacy groups on both sides, they are up in arms over this. so when you think, okay if this is okay in one school, will this be okay in other schools? >> that's what texas is actually trying to do, in this particular school district, which is one of the largest in the state of texas, which is huge anyway to begin with, about 100,000 students in total once you add up all the schools, starting this pilot program in two of their schools. the judge has said, guess what, we're going to allow that. the locater chip is actually in an i.d. badge that the student has to have on and the caveat is there is a lesser expectation of privacy. students have reduced privacy rights in a school, in the supreme court has consistently held that. think about these cases, locker searches, can go in and search your locker, can't bust down your front door in the home and do it. there is that lowered expectation. and the badges do not work, once

you leave the school property. the judge has said, look, i understand, there is a public safety issue, there is also a funding issue, this is not to violate privacy rights this is to make sure the children are properly checked into home run so the magnate schools can get their funding. >> can't imagine kids being up to no good, holly hughes. >> teenagers, teenagers. >> holly, thank you. >> absolutely. >> thank you. another domino today in the president's cabinet shuffle. this time impacts your wallet. so who is jack lew and what would he do at the treasury department? that is next. plus, the breaking news of aig's decision not to sue the government over its bailout. ali velshi has a lot to say. he's back and he's next. pack your bags, we'll leave tonight. uhh, it's next month, actually... eddie continues singing: to tickets to... paradiiiiiise! no four. remember? whoooa whooaa whooo! you know ronny, folks who save hundreds of dollars by switching to geico sure are happy.

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things are looking up for the u.s. economy. let's hope our politicians don't bring it down. from the cnn money newsroom, in new york, i'm ali velshi. this is your money. walmart reverses itself on gun violence meeting. do you know who jack lew is? you will soon. more nightmares on the dreamliner. and america is on track to prosper if we just let it. but, first, that walmart story. the change of heart. vice president joe biden invited walmart and other large gun retailers to meet with his gun violence task force at the white house tomorrow. incredibly, walmart started off the day saying it didn't have a single person available to attend the meeting. then it quickly changed its tune

and in response to scathing criticism including from my good friend christine romans who spent the morning reporting on and talking to the world's largest retailer. christine, what happened? >> well, ali, first thing this morning walmart was saying they were not going to be physically at those meetings with the vice president this week, that they had a phone call earlier this week, that the white house was well aware of their position on these matters and they would not be going to these meetings. i asked specifically, if 2.2 million employees, not one can get out of the scheduling conflict to go meet at the white house? when the white house calls, you know, you kind of have to show up and send somebody. they said, no, we weren't going to be there. as the morning wore on, and we continued to talk about this, and whether it was appropriate for walmart to have not one person at this meeting, then an aboutface from walmart. we underestimated the expectation to attend the meeting on thursday in person, so we are sending an appropriate

representative to participate. why is walmart such a big stake holder? why did so many people expect walmart to be physically at the table? well, walmart is the world's largest retailer, it sells bushmaster ar-15 style rifles like the ones used in newtown. it is also likely the world's largest firearms retailer. and a lot of these folks have been gathering around the table to talk about how to cut down gun violence. at the beginning of the day, no walmart was not going to be able to go because of a scheduling conflict. by late morning, they changed their mind. ali? >> nice work, christine. on the money menu, boeing may be in for more trouble over its 787 dreamliner. the latest glitch to hit the jet, an dreamliner grounded in tokyo because of a systems error message in the cockpit. yesterday, a dreamliner had to be towed back to the gate in boston because of a fuel leak. yet another jal dreamliner filled with smoke on monday after landing. luckily passengers had

disembarked. and last month, a united dreamliner was diverted to new orleans over mechanical problems. boeing executives have extreme confidence in the 787. >> like me brand-new airplane program, the first year or two years in service, there are issues we have to work through. and i can tell you that the 787 is in the same family as our other leading airplanes, the 777 as an example. >> i've taken a couple of flights on these new dreamliner 787s. they are sweet, no question about it. at $200 million a pop, boeing has a lot at stake. it has 800 of the planes on order from airlines, but dogged by production delays and now these mechanical glitches since it debuted in late 2011. whether these problems are typical or not, they could prove to be a nightmare for boeing's bottom line if airlines start putting their orders on hold. new term, new treasury secretary, a source confirms to

cnn that president obama is set to nominate his current chief of staff jack lew to replace tim geithner. lew is described as the consummate washington insider and behind the scenes dealmaker. he also has ties to wall street. he was an executive at citigroup, served as budget director under bill clinton and then again more recently under president obama. he was a key player during the 2011 debt ceiling talks that almost shut down the government. going to have his work cut out for him. democrats and republicans on capitol hill gear up for that battle over extending the debt ceiling with the global embarrassment that serves as economic policy debate in washington these days. i have a hunch tim gheit neeith won't miss taking part in another one of those showdowns. aig made the right decision, the decision not to join a crabby shareholder lawsuit against the u.s. government. probably heard by now about the lawsuit, led by former aig ceo maurice hank greenberg. it claims the terms of the $182 billion government bailout which

saved the company possibly planet earth as well from financial meltdown were too harsh. the lawsuit was looking for $25 billion. pretty outrageous. but the board did have a responsibility to take a look at the lawsuit and decide whether or not to join it. the company's board met today and made the right decision. the case will go forward, however. aig won't be a party to it. the government has divested itself of the entire 92% of aig that it or more accurately you owned. the profit on the deal was $22 billion. that's it for me from the cnn money newsroom in new york. i'm out. same time tomorrow.

a hectic family life in the white house will be rubbing elbows with president obama today. shannon travis with me for the political pop. 1600 penn, new tv show. >> new tv show, exploring some

things you probably never would associate with the real 1600 pennsylvania avenue, brooke. a pregnant first daughter, a divorced president, remarried to a new woman, and a bit of a goof ball son. obviously these are the themes in this fictional 1600 penn on nbc. the new series premiere is airing tomorrow, but today president obama is hosting a screening at the white house. why would the president be hosting a screening of the show, you may ask? >> why? >> why? it may be because one of the co-creators of the show, his name is john lovett, a former speech speechwriter. he veered into politics, kind of at the intersection of both now. so an interesting screening there. the show centers around, again, this fictional president gilchrist, his four kids and one of them, this eldest son is a bit of a screwball. take a listen. >> let's fight fire with fire safety.

i think we got it! >> oh, no. >> oh, no! >> president de soto, welcome to the united states. >> i just hope to avoid bodily injury. >> we'll keep you out of harm's way. >> i hope to avoid injury. >> we'll keep you out of harm's way. >> maybe try a little bit harder? >> i'm so sorry. >> looks pretty funny, brooke. we're told that the president will have the screening in about an hour from now. >> what about presidential inauguration a couple of weeks away. we've got some new details who will be performing for the big weekend. >> absolutely. big details. kelly clarkson is going to be performing my country 'tis of

thee. probably the biggest news is beyonce. >> she's back. >> she's going to be doing the national anthem. it's a bit of a reward, brooke, for all of her big electioneering for president obama. anyone's guess. but in 2009 she also took part in the festivities for barack obama. it's a pretty big year for her. >> awesome. i found out i'll be covering the inauguration. so shannon travis, thank you so much. we've been following this crane collapse. take a look at this picture in long island city. new details here on the people injured. this was an active construction site. long island city. back in a minute. at? at? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it? hello? hello?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello?

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before we talk to chad here and talk about great white sharks, we have new numbers from the new york fire department on this crane collapse in long island city that happened in the 2:00 eastern hour here. we now know seven people, seven people are injured. we're told three, according to the fire department, three seriously injured. four with minor injuries. but the good news here, this was an active construction scene, everyone is accounted for. and now to sharks. a great white shark that weighs more than 3,000 pounds is just hanging out right now near jacksonville beach in florida. the shark dubbed mary lee was originally tagged near cape cod massachusetts back in september and yesterday it entered the surf zone of jacksonville beach.

no surfers were around but mary lee got as close as 200 yards of the beach and that prompted the research group to alert the police. first of all, mary lee, a shark? >> and that's jeannie. >> who named these sharks? >> the ocean research. >> it sounds so sweet. >> well, they really want to know what these things do in the summer, in the winter. >> what's the zigzag? >> every place that mary lee -- every place that mary lee has been, very, very close, kind of swam out earlier today. that was at 4:42. you can get on this app and see where it's been. >> that's where mary lee was. >> a few days ago, here's savannah, flying around here. >> quite the journey.

>> cape cod was tagged in september. swimming all around. there's jeannie. there's the yellow line where the other shark was. not as many data points. it looks like it flies through the land but it actually doesn't. right here swimming right along the continental shelf and if we keep going, we'll zoom it out. >> mary lee is making me dizzy. >> she was found at cape cod on accept 14th, 2012. >> come here rocky. this is why you don't go down here. >> yeah. there's lots of them. >> anyway, if people want to track the sharks, this is kind of cool. >> it's like the word research but it's osearch and it says, track my shark. >> okay, mary lee in jacksonville beach. beware. chad, thank you very much.

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for just the eighth time in history, annual voting for the baseball hall of fame has produced a shut out. the baseball writers of america say no today to barry bonds, no to roger clemens and no to sammy sosa. in fact, they said no to all of the nominees. also, no to slugger mark mcguire. they might have been considered a shoe-in except for allegations of steroid use can be considered an inclusion in future elections to the hall of fame. let's take a quick look at the big board here. we have the dow before the "closing bell" in a